


One Step at a Time.

by bethrio



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25879609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethrio/pseuds/bethrio
Summary: Rio's time with Marcus is something he hates giving up, likes spending every second he can with his son. So when Rhea suggests sending Marcus to preschool Rio instantly hates the idea. After a long and tiring search they finally find the perfect one taught by Beth Marks.As time goes on, Rhea and Marcus fall more and more in love with Beth and all of a sudden Rio finds her entangled in his life in more ways than one.
Relationships: Beth & Rhea, Beth Boland/Rio, Marcus & Rio (Good Girls), Rio & Rhea
Comments: 42
Kudos: 287





	One Step at a Time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to finally post this story because I've been working on it for what has felt like foreverrrr. I gotta thank my little brother for being cute as hell and inspiring all the moments with Rio & Marcus and just generally this fic. Without him I wouldn't have any clue about how kids at 2 act so thanks little man.
> 
> Also have to thank the amazinggg Megan (foxmagpie) for letting me rant about this fic and my confusion about where it's all going because without her I would have just left it. Also gotta thank her for beta'ing this chapter for me, she helped structure it and just add so much more to it! Thank you so much, you're amazing.
> 
> Okay I'm done haha, happy reading!

“Dadda!”

“Yeah?”

“Dadda!”

“Yeah?”

Rio takes a sip of water and looks across the loft to see Marcus playing with his crayons on the small table he bought for him, his tongue between his teeth as he concentrates and wiggles his body closer to the table in his chair.

“Dadda!” Marcus repeats again as he tries to turn his small body in the tiny chair.

“Choose!” He says pointing at the crayons in the cup holder. Then he just stays in that position, eyes bright staring at him, finger pointing as he waits for his dad to come and do what he asked.

Rio bites his lip as he smiles at Marcus and makes his way across the open space between the kitchen and living room. Marcus’ little table stays in his room when he’s at Rhea’s but Rio likes to bring it out into the middle when he’s with him. Like it’s being the center of Marcus’ little nook, all his toys surrounding him where Rio can see him from wherever he is in the loft.

Rio spots his lego bricks half stacked up in a tower behind Marcus and his pile of trucks and small collection of Peppa Pig toys blended together creating a mad collision. He’d usually get Marcus to tidy up before moving onto something new but these days he likes to rotate between them every 15 minutes so Rio leaves it a little longer than he usually would.

“You want me to choose?”

Marcus pulls his arm back and then quickly jams his little finger at the holder again, gearing himself up. “Choose!”

Rio looks between the crayons and grabs the red one. He’s about to draw on the page, which is already full of scribbles, when Marcus yanks it out of his hand.

“‘Ey! Thought you wanted me to choose?”

Rio pokes gently at him where he knows Marcus is ticklish and Marcus squirms from his touch but keeps a stronghold on the crayon.

He watches his son hum as he looks at the crayons and shuffles them around. He finally settles on a green one and passes it to him.

“Thank you,” Rio tells him.

Marcus grins up at him and when Rio starts drawing a tiger he giggles with excitement.

Shit, how is this kid his? He leans over and kisses Marcus’ cheek and smiles even more when Marcus grins up at him.

“Dadda!”

He laughs. “Yeah?”

Marcus moves his hand and by mistake knocks over the cup holder with the crayons in, spreading them all over the small table causing Rio to twitch slightly at the mess.

Marcus’ mouth falls into an o shape and Rio has to stop himself from laughing at the shocked expression on his son's face.

“Uh-oh!” Marcus says looking at the mess in front of him.

Rio reaches for the knocked over cup holder and tilts it towards Marcus, “Gonna help tidy up?”

Marcus grabs a handful of crayons and tries to shove them back, all of them facing the wrong direction stopping him from going any further. Rio takes them from him and puts them in properly as he watches Marcus try and grab another handful sending some to the floor.

Rio feels that same twitch from before but ignores it as he grabs more crayons from Marcus. “Thanks, pop.”

Once they’re all back in and Marcus is scribbling on the page again, Rio moves to start coloring alongside him again when his phone goes off from the kitchen island.

He moves to get up but Marcus grabs him. “No!”

Rio looks down at Marcus and spots his bottom lip jutted out and his forehead slightly creased. “I’m coming back, just gimme a minute.”

Rio flicks his bottom lip with his finger. “And what did we say about manners, huh? Gotta say please, pop.”

Marcus looks up at him, eyes filled with hope. “Pwease?”

Fuck.

“I’ll be back in a minute, promise.”

Marcus keeps his hope filled eyes on him as Rio walks across the loft avoiding Marcus’ legos. He checks the caller ID and he sees it’s Mick. Shit, something must be up for Mick to call him, he knows it’s his last with Marcus for a few days.

Marcus is still waiting for him to come back and Rio can see he’s about to move his table so he can slide off the chair and come towards him, impatient with how long Rio is taking. Quickly he asks Marcus to draw a car, delighted with the thought he gets to drawing straight away.

“What?” Rio grunts down the phone.

“Antony fucked up.”

“How’s he fucked up a simple drop off?”

“Brought his girl with him.”

“He—” Rio rocks his jaw and breathes slowly, trying to calm himself down. He runs a hand over his face and utters he’ll be there soon, ending the phone call.

What kind of fucking idiot brings his girl to a drop?

 _Especially_ when he ain’t been round that long ,and Rio told him the feds are watching everyone closely for a way in.

On top of that, this means he’s gotta drop Marcus off a day early and it feels like he’s only just picked him up from Rhea’s. He rocks his jaw and tries to ease the new tension off his shoulders. He’d ring his mom and let Marcus stay there for a few hours but it’s Sunday, which means she’s at the market with her stall, and he doesn’t even know how long this is gonna take.

Shit, it’s gonna have to be Rhea’s and he don’t really have the energy to deal with how prickly she’s gonna be about it, her face all hard and narrow in that way it does when something work related comes up.

All this because some fucking dumbass doesn’t listen. His fingers twitch at his side and rage building up—

“Dadda?”

Rio looks up and sees Marcus push off the chair and stumble towards him, the sun from the windows shining on him making it hard for Rio not to notice his long eyelashes and big round eyes.

His ma and Rhea think he’s the spitting image of Rio when he was 2 years old but all Rio sees is his father from the baby pictures he’s seen of him. He breathes in deeply at the sight.

“Dadda, hold!” Marcus throws his arms up so he can be picked up and Rio reaches for him straight away. His small hand reaches out to touch his beard and Marcus proceeds to laugh at the feel of it against his hand.

He’s just learnt how to say hold and everyday he says something he ain’t ever said before. The more he’s with Rhea the more Rio misses out on the little things, like when he first started to feed himself and fuck—

Rio looks across the room to stop the self pity when he spots the train tracks he got out before so he could build them with Marcus later. Rio’s gonna have to put them back in Marcus’ room and keep the curtain closed so he ain’t reminded of what he’s missed out on while he’s at Rhea’s for longer.

He hates dropping him off, but when Marcus sees Rhea, it puts him at ease that he’s with her. The two of them might not have worked out but he’s glad she’s Marcus’ mother. The way they wanna raise Marcus fitting together perfectly in the way other elements of their relationship just fell flat. Her knowing that Rio is as obsessed with Marcus as Marcus is with him and would never let any harm come his way.

A small hand moves in front of his eyes and Rio quickly turns his gaze back to Marcus whose focus is on the brim of his hoodie.

Luckily for Rio though, its sat half on his head as he's had to wear it for a few weeks now, so Marcus isn’t able to reach it to pull it over his eyes.

Rio tickles at his side and Marcus laughs leaning into it. “You tryna pull a fast one over your daddy, huh?”

The sound of Marcus laughing continues to fill the loft and Rio just breathes in the moment a little longer before he forces himself to call Rhea.

—

“Alright, give daddy a kiss before he goes,” Rhea tells Marcus.

Marcus leans forward in her hold and kisses him. “Bye, Dadda!”

Rio laughs as Marcus manges to get his chin all wet and grabs his little hand. “I’ll see you soon, pop.”

“Why don’t you go and find Peppa for Mama?” Rhea asks Marcus as she puts him down on the floor. Marcus, excited with the idea of finding his Peppa teddy, runs into the house and makes a beeline straight to his toybox, the wooden floor banging when Marcus’ little feet stomp hard against it.

Rhea turns her gaze back to him and her eyes dart across his face. His jaw rocks at the sight. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Can it wait? ” He don’t really have time to argue with her about the issue of his lifestyle again.

“No, it can’t. Listen, Chris—” Her expression hardens and she twists around to look at Marcus making sure he can’t hear. Her hair is longer at the back of her neck now after she cut it short and her hand rubs at it, like she’s either nervous. Or frustrated. Rio narrows his eyes at the sight.

“I’ve been thinking… I think we need to get Marcus into preschool.”

His eyebrows shoot up because this ain’t what he expected to hear her say. He’s about to open his mouth and respond but she keeps on talking.

“I understand your— work... isn’t what a normal workday typically looks like, but mine is. You’re lucky it’s a Sunday and not during the week because I wouldn’t have been able to take him, Chris.”

Rio blinks, teeth grinding together as he tries to process whatever the fuck this is. Marcus is only here right now because his ma isn’t available and Rio tries to think how he can say that, that he’s got _other_ options and this won’t happen again for a while only—

“I also know your mom wouldn't be able to take him as well and the few times you’ve called to drop him off early and I can’t— it just makes me feel—.” Rhea shakes her head and breathes deeply, steadying herself.

Rio has to look away focusing on Marcus in the background instead, watching him squeeze his Peppa toy so she oinks at him.

“If he’s in preschool that means he’s got a fixed routine, starts education early and starts making friends. I know you like your time with Marcus but... this’ll be easier. On everyone.” She says it likes she practiced it multiple times and fuck— she probably has, Rio thinks.

Rio watches her as she reaches behind the door and comes back with booklets. She holds them out to him. “These are ones I’ve found already, all have great reviews and the activities look really good.” She says it gently like she’s explaining something Marcus, like he’s a child.

When Rio doesn’t take them she shakes them in her hand. “Chris, just think about it. For Marcus?”

Rio narrows his eyes at her, seeing right through her tactic but fuck— for Marcus. He reaches for them and tries to ignore the heaviness of them now in his hand.

Rhea smiles at him and rolls out her hand as she says, “I’ve marked some pages which suit yours and Marcus’... activities together.”

“Is that right?” He asks her, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, cowboy.”

Rio rolls his eyes and walks away shaking his head, a slight smile fighting it’s way onto his face. He doesn’t give her a response and as he gets into the car he hears her laugh. He knows she’s thinking about when she walked in on him and Marcus wearing cowboy hats and fuck— she ain’t ever gonna let him forget about it.

—

It’s later that night at 9 o’clock when his ma rings him. He puts up a finger to Mick telling him he won’t be long and makes his way into the makeshift office at the warehouse. He closes the door muffling the sound of washing machines and cash being cut.

He sinks heavily into the chair at the desk and rubs his eyes, mentally preparing for the upcoming conversation.

“Hey, ma.”

“You know, I had a feeling today that my son and grandson might pop into the market and say hello. I was pretty disappointed that no one came.”

That guilt that Rio’s been ignoring since his conversation with Rhea blooms even more to the point where he can’t ignore it anymore. “I’m sorry, ma. He’s at Rhea’s.”

She’s silent and he can picture her at the kitchen window staring out into the backyard, leftover sauce on the table which she’ll take to the shelter tomorrow.

Despite providing her with more than enough money, she still works herself to the bone and goes to the market on Sunday’s to sell her sauces. She insists she likes the company but Rio knows it’s more than that. She likes to make sure everyone eats a decent meal.

“And both of you aren’t able to bring him to see me? Together?” she questions him.

Rio _strongly_ resists the urge not to sigh down the phone to her, knows that’ll just get her more worked up and treat him like he’s a kid again. But shit—how many times he gotta tell her they’re over?

He rubs at his face, frustrated. “Ma—you know why—”

She interrupts him, clearly not wanting to hear what he’s told her multiple times, that that part of their relationship just didn’t work, _just didn’t fit_.

“Have you been getting out? Meeting new people when you don’t have Marcus? If you two can’t make it work at least try and make it work with someone else. I don’t want you lonely in that loft when Marcus isn’t around.”

“I—”

“How’s work been going? Is everything okay? Why is Marcus at Rhea’s, isn’t it your day?”

This time he does sigh down the phone, his brain trying to process the 20 fucking questions she shoting at him in rapid fire.

“Don’t sigh at me, Christopher. I might have the answer to all these questions if you came and saw me more.” Rio can practically see her hands on her hips and staring up at him, her face all stern.

“It’s just been a long day, I’m sorry, ma. Everything’s alright, just some issue at a few bars that’s all. Couldn’t do it with Marcus around so I dropped him off at Rhea’s. We’ll come by the Sunday after next, yeah?” Rio just needs the interrogation to end and to put her at ease that they’ll see her soon.

As he says that, his gaze falls on his swollen knuckles and he flexes his hand. The bruises will have gone down by the time he gets Marcus again.

“You promise? ‘Cause I don’t think your mother can handle another disappointment.”

He lets out a small laugh at that and promises her they’ll be there.

They talk for a bit more about how the stall’s going and his mother turns the conversation to his sister and how she’s seeing someone new, Olivia who does marketing.

Rio mostly hums back to her and lets her ramble on about how nice she is because he’s just waiting for her to bring it up again. How long she can go without not knowing the answer. He can hear Mick shout roughly in the distance at someone which is then followed by group laughter.

“It made me think of you.” She says softly down the phone to him. Ahh, here it is.

“Mia and her girlfriend made you think of me?”

He hears her flick the kettle on, “You didn’t answer when I asked if you were seeing anyone.”

Rio stands up and makes his way across the room to the door, itching for this conversation to be over already. “Ma—I’ve only got time for work and Marcus these days. You know that.”

“I know, but I just want you—”

“I gotta go back to work, I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Christopher—”

He hangs up and walks out of his office. Shit—he’ll pay for that later but he don’t exactly have the time and patience to have that conversation with his mother.

Every time he sees her it’s like they go round in circles. _Will you and Rhea get back together? Why can’t you both make it work? Are you at least seeing anyone else yet?_

That’s the one she asks the most, are you seeing anyone? Fuck. He ain’t lying when he says he’s barely got time for that. He ain’t got the energy to deal with what he went through with Rhea and her issue about his work lifestyle. He’s happy it being just him and Marcus but fuck—that’s gonna change now as well with this fucking preschool idea. He hates it.

“Yo, Rio!” Carlos shouts him over from his spot near the cutting station. Rio forgets all about his mother's questions and gets back to work.

—

He pulls up outside Rhea’s house and goes to pull out Marcus’ carseat from the back. He quickly sets it up and makes his way to the door. He’s only knocked once before she’s opening the door and he’s greeted with Marcus’ big smile.

“Dadda! Hi! Hi, Dadda!” Marcus leans forward in Rhea’s hold and Rio has to quickly grab him before he slips.

Rhea lets out a quiet squeal as Marcus falls from her grip but Rio’s already got a tight hold on him. “Be careful, Marcus”

Marcus wraps his small arms around Rio’s neck and settles into him. Rio puts his hand on the back of his head and strokes his hair, the smell of his baby shampoo filling the air.

Twisting his head he kisses him and mumbles, “Hi, pop.”

“As soon as I said you were coming he was all, ‘Dadda, Dadda! I want Dadda!’ And made me wait by the door for you.” Rhea finishes off with a smile shaking her head.

Rio smirks slightly at her, delighted with the news. “He been good this week?”

Rhea hums, “Perfect. I don't know how we did it.”

Marcus leans back in his arms, ”Dadda, Mama—Peppa.”

Rio raises an eyebrow at him as Marcus tries to tell him something but keeps stuttering and talking nonsense. “Oh my god, really?”

Marcus bobs his head, “Yeah!” He settles back into Rio as if telling him took all his energy.

Rio turns his attention back to Rhea about to say goodbye but the look on her face stops him— it’s the same one from the other day.

“What?” He ain’t got time to stretch this whole thing out, he’s got plans to finally build the train track with Marcus.

Rhea shifts. “Have you looked at the schools yet?”

He looks away from her, rocking his jaw. He ain’t touched them since he put them in the kitchen cupboard. Out of his sight.

Exhausted with him, she sighs. “Chris—I need to start making appointments before it’s too late.”

“I know you do, alright? Just— give me some time,” he snaps at her, irritated that he has to get on board with it when she’s sprung it on him.

“Like you give me time to think about things before you drop Marcus off early? And more time for what Chris? The longer we wait, the harder it is to find a good place. This is the perfect time to start looking—” She stops herself and shakes her head. “I don’t wanna fight with you about this. I’m booking them all this week and I’ll text you the details. This is better for all of us.”

Marcus shifts in his hold and Rio tightens his hand around his leg and then his feels the slight ache in his knuckles from when he had to sort Antony out and maybe the extra time could be useful but he still _hates_ the idea.

Marcus turns around to look at Rhea and the smell of his baby shampoo consumes Rio for a moment. She leans in and gives him a kiss. “Bye, baby.”

“Bye, Mama!”

“I can’t do morning next week,” Rio tells her, hoping she’ll understand him without him needing to add anything else on. It’s all he can give her at the moment.

She nods at him, “I’ll book them for the afternoon.”

He returns the nod and walks toward the car, his mood sour now at the thought of attending these meetings but then Marcus bites his cheek and his thoughts return to the plans he has for them.

—

“Roar, Dadda! Roar!” Marcus points to the Alexa in that way he does, throwing his arm back and gearing himself up. Rio looks at the Alexa which is slightly hidden on the kitchen counter top.

Rhea got him into animal sounds on her Alexa and when he was at Rio’s, Marcus had a tantrum when he couldn’t provide them.

So he bought an Alexa.

He fucking hates it.

He don’t even use the damn thing when Marcus ain’t with him, which is why it’s slightly hidden behind a plant. Rio forgot to move it into the drawer before he picked up Marcus.

The first few times he hid it Marcus noticed it missing straight away. Kid’s too fucking smart for his own good already, Rio thinks, and then his mind wonders to what he’d be like in preschool and he’s annoyed at himself for reminding his time with Marcus is even more limited—

Rio sighs. “Alexa, what noise does a shark make?”

Marcus giggles up at him and stands still waiting for the sound. As soon as the sound fills the loft, Marcus squeals and stomps his feet wiggling his body.

Okay, so maybe he can deal with the Alexa, if it makes his son do cute shit like this.

That lasts for a while, Marcus making various animal noises leaving Rio guessing what he’s making and asking Alexa to play it. After Marcus has reached his limit, he goes to entertain himself with his books and Rio just watches him for a while.

He watches Marcus turn the pages and soak up the colours and his mind wonders to what he’d look like in a classroom again, how he’d be able to read and understand the books more. How they’d finally be able to start reading more books together, Marcus’ little mind understanding it and imagining it all even bigger.

But then Rio thinks about how that means less time with him during the day, just _less_ time with Marcus overall and he hates the idea all over again.

Rio makes his way over to him and settles into the couch with his laptop trying not to disturb Marcus as he sits on the floor reading. Rio pushes all thoughts of preschool from his mind and instead focuses on Marcus turning the pages of his book, leaving his work alone for a while.

It’s getting late when Marcus yawns and crawls his way onto the couch. His legs stretched out as he tries to maneuver himself on the couch cushions to cuddle up next to Rio.

Rio lets him stay close to him for a while, liking the fact that Marcus did it on his own, came over and snuggled close to him.

When Marcus yawns into him, he decides it’s time for him to get into bed.

“Tired?” He asks as he runs his hand through his son's hair. He’s gonna need a haircut soon.

Marcus pouts and shakes his head, “No.”

He buries further into Rio’s side like he’s tryna hide and Rio can’t control the laugh that he lets out.

“You want milk?”

Marcus pulls his head back out, his eyes wide as he says, “Milk?”

“Come ‘ere.” Rio moves the laptop off his lap and picks up Marcus. Marcus rests his head on his chest and they start to go through his nightly routine.

He puts him in his pajamas and changes his diaper, Marcus surprisingly not protesting for once as sleep tugs at his eyelids. He quickly moves into the bathroom and rests Marcus on the counter next to the sink. He protests a little when he starts brushing his teeth but Rio lets him play with his hoodie strings and Marcus lets him continue with no issue.

Marcus’ focus stays on the strings, tugging at them even when Rio picks him up again and walks out the bathroom and into the kitchen to get his bottle.

Walking into his room though his son instantly locks in on the tiger propped up at the head of the crib and begins begging for it. “Roar!”

Marcus leans towards it in his grip and Rio has to pull him back up. “Let Daddy put you in first, then you can have roar.”

“Roar!”

Rio pulls the lion covered duvet back and lays Marcus down, his son’s eyes never leaving the tiger as he makes grabby hands for it. Rio reaches for it and Marcus wastes no time in wrapping his small arm around it and cuddling the teddy.

“Night, pop.” He leans down and kisses Marcus before handing him the bottle.

“Night, night!” Marcus says before shoving the bottle into his mouth.

Chuckling at the sight Rio flicks on his night light and leaves the room, closing the curtain on his way.

—

He makes his way straight over to his laptop and opens it back up to see the schedules for drops waiting to be finished. They gotta be done by tomorrow so Rio gets straight to work.

It’s close to 1 o’clock when the sound of Marcus crying fills the loft and Rio’s instantly filled with dread at not knowing why he’s woken up. He doesn’t waste any time shutting the lid of the laptop down and making his way to Marcus’ room to try and figure out what’s wrong. Wanting to fix it for him, wanting to let Marcus know that _he's here_.

As he rounds the coach he hears Marcus shout for him, “Dadda!” and just— Rio quickens his pace.

Pulling back the curtain and revealing Marcus’ room, he sees his son standing up in his crib crying.

“What’s wrong, pop?” He speaks softly into the room, not wanting to spook him.

Marcus sobs louder and makes grabby hands at him, and Rio’s heart aches at the sight.

He moves quickly to pick him up and Marcus tucks his head into his neck and bawls.

Rio kisses the side of his head and whispers soothing words into his ear. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, pop.”

He rubs at Marcus’ back as he walks across the loft to his own bed in the corner of the room. He gently settles onto his back, careful of Marcus who’s lying across his chest.

Marcus’ cries slowly begin to die down and Rio rubs patterns on his back as he hums a tune. His cries stop eventually and Marcus goes back to sleep.

It’s moments like this where Rio wishes he could keep Marcus forever, tucked away from the world and with him.

As he looks around the loft, the only light coming from the lamp in the living room a few feet away, there’s something about the room— just _something_ that reminds him of when he and Rhea would fight.

When Marcus would wake up and ask for him and then Rhea would argue with him that Marcus has done that because Rio keeps leaving without telling them, keeps coming back with bruised knuckles causing them to argue all over again.

Marcus sighs into his neck and Rio runs his hand through his hair. He looks past the living room and sees the drawer which he hid the preschool booklets in. He thinks of the shit Rhea has to deal with when he has to drop Marcus’ off early or disappear for a while without mentioning it. He thinks about how Rhea mentioned getting him a proper routine and how it might help Marcus. He ain’t woken up late in the night for a while and maybe all this is affecting Marcus more than Rio thought.

He’ll read them tomorrow, but if none of them reach his expectations, Marcus ain’t going.

Sleep begins to tug at his eyelids and Rio thinks about fighting against it, putting Marcus back in his cot but if he starts going to preschool that means Rio’s time with him is gonna be even shorter.

Rio holds Marcus tightly against his chest and in the morning they both haven’t moved.

—

“Need a list of where everyone’s kid goes to preschool,” Rio tells Mick the next day on the phone while he goes through the booklets.

Marcus is napping on his bed cuddling his tiger, his hair all sweaty reminding Rio he needs to get his hair cut soon. It ain’t even warm but somehow the kids sweating, his blanket wrapped around his legs from where he’s kicked it off in his sleep. Rio stays close to him and goes through the booklets on the chair at the end of his bed.

“Marcus is goin’ preschool?” Mick questions.

Rio hums out a response. “Yeah and he ain’t going to a place where anyone else sends their kids.” Only a few of his boys know about Marcus and he’s keeping it that way. “Gotta be quick about it as well. Rhea’s already got a list and is making appointments.”

She keeps sending him the times of the appointments but so she doesn’t annoy him, she sends them at different times during the day. Rio just wished she send them all at once cause getting a new text every fucking 2 hours with a new meeting is pissing him off.

“I’ll get it to you by the end of the day. You heard anything from Cole?”

Cole is a new player who tells Rio he can get pills across the border. It sounds a little too good to be true but Rio’s waiting for another meeting with the guy to feel him out more.

“Not yet.”

“Alright. I’ll text you the list of preschools later,” Mick tells him.

Rio offers a thanks and ends the call. As he does it his gaze falls on the booklets again and just—fucking preschools.

He don’t even know why the idea just doesn’t sit right with him. Doesn’t like the idea of this whole new person seeing Marcus grow up and learn new things without Rio there. He knew it was gonna happen at one point but jesus— he at least thought he’d have more time to come to terms with the idea, until Marcus was at least 4 and not just 2 recently.

His phone buzzes again and Rio just knows, _just knows_ , that it’s Rhea with another meeting. He ignores it and goes to the kitchen instead starting to make Marcus’ dinner for when he wakes up.

—

“I’ve got a list of questions to ask, do you wanna read them before we go in?” Rhea asks him in the passenger seat of the caddy as Rio drives them over to their first meeting.

He glances at her and notices she has her notes open on her phone.

“Read ‘em out to me.”

Rhea clears her throat and shifts in the seat. “Are there active opportunities to develop gross and fine motor skills? How much can the children nap? How do you deal with discipline? What does your outdoor play look like?”

Rio shakes his head as she continues to read out the questions. “What website you pull these off?”

“‘Top Ten Questions to Ask when Looking at ‘preschools.’ Why, is it obvious?” Rhea looks at him and then back at the questions as if trying to read them again for the first time.

“Ma, I ain’t even heard you say ‘gross and fine motor skills’” he tells her, hiding a smile.

“What other setting would I use them?”

Rio shifts in his seat and sucks in his bottom lip. “Listen, if they don’t tell us the answers to those questions without us having to ask, he ain’t going there.”

“Trust you to magically want people to give you the answers to questions you won’t even ask.” Rhea remarks, her voice tight.

“What are the other six questions?” Rio asks her, ignoring her dig.

She doesn’t respond straight away, she just folds her arms and looks out the window. “I’ll just wait and see if they answer them, then ask.”

Rio just focuses on the road and getting to the place. He turns up the music for Marcus and Rhea, wants to get her head out of her head focusing on something else.

He has questions of his own, mostly if he can pick Marcus up at the drop of a hat. Either to spend the day with him or ‘cause shit’s going down and he wants Marcus somewhere safer. He’d rather not ask with Rhea around though, because she’ll just freak out and ask him what’s happening at work, who does she need to look out for—it’ll make her start panicking in that way she does when nothing’s going on… yet. He just wants to be prepared.

It’s not like he doesn’t keep her informed, he does, but most shit she doesn’t need to know. When they decided to do co-parenting it was one of her conditions, if anything life threatening happens, he tells her.

Glancing at her now, he remembers when some shit went down a few months back and he had to go away for two weeks.

Problem was though, he couldn’t tell her, couldn’t say goodbye to Marcus and promise he’ll be back. While he was away he just kept picturing Marcus grinning up at him in his arms, slowly learning things and fuck— he hates missing out on things.

When he popped up a couple weeks later, her reaction surprised him at first: she wasn’t mad at him and she let him have some time with Marcus before she laid down the law.

After Marcus was asleep, she dragged him aside and demanded every detail, every person involved and where they were now. Demanded to know what he was doing to protect Marcus, to protect them. Rio had to remind her that he ain’t stupid and that she’s gotta trust him, trust that he won’t ever let anything happen to Marcus or her. She’d got angry at his tone and it just went on for hours, arguing like they did when they were together.

It took a few weeks for her to trust him again, to not be cagey with him, but she came around. Even if it was still an icy subject, probably would always be one between them—

“Truck!” Marcus’ voice pulls him from his memories and he glances to his side to see a truck going past them.

“Blippi!” Marcus shouts again, the truck reminding him of the song that some fucking guy has created about them. Both him and Rhea groan at the same time.

“Kid ain’t got my good taste in music, wonder where he gets his crap one from,” Rio says as he punches in the song for Marcus in the car.

Rhea opens her mouth to respond but Rio turns up the music even louder, throwing a grin her way, not allowing her time to speak.

She ignores him and sings along with Marcus about garbage trucks.

—

Pulling into the parking lot Rio’s able to spot the receptionist at the front of the building through the windows. It makes him rock his jaw.

The windows are covered in drawing’s along with stickers but he knows when he gets closer he’ll be able to see through the cracks and fuck— it’s already a no in his eyes.

“Just give it a try. Please?” Rhea’s voice is tight and he turns to look at her.

She’s pleading with him but he knows she doesn’t like the look of it already with the way she keeps looking at the receptionist. She didn’t hide her grimace fast enough.

He exhales but shit—he’ll humour her. Maybe this place will put her off the idea for a bit, maybe he can use it as a reason _not_ to do this whole thing.

Both of them get out of the car and Rio goes to get Marcus but he whines for Rhea.

“Mama!” Marcus throws his small arms around in the air, stopping Rio from grabbing him.

“You real demanding, you know that?” Rio says tickling his sides and moving out the way for Rhea.

She laughs as she gets him out. “He’s gonna ask for you when I pick him up.”

“Nar—”

“Dadda!” Marcus singsongs.

Rio and Rhea both laugh in unison as they walk towards the building.

Rio reaches a hand over and tickles at Marcus’ side, “You made your bed, pop.”

As they get closer to the door the receptionist notices them and buzzes the door open straight away.

Rio rocks his jaw and rolls his shoulders because jesus—what kind of fucking place is this? At least ask for their names first.

The blonde, who looks about twelve, shouts at them as soon as they step in, her voice all high and cheesy. “Hi there! I’m Whitney and welcome to Kiddie Cove!”

Fuck. Rio resists the urge to grab Marcus and go back into the car.

Rio watches Marcus lean back in Rhea’s hold and hide into her neck.

Rhea adjusts her hold on him as she says, “Hi! We’re here for—”

Blondie interrupts her, “The interview, right? You can just go straight through! Miss Louise is waiting for you!”

This time Rio doesn’t hide his sigh.

“Thank you so much!” Rhea says, voice higher than normal to drown out Rio.

They turn and walk into the hall and the place is fine. Got paintings everywhere, stickers, just like the outside, but then Rio sees the playarea outside. They’ve a slide and a sand pit but his focus is on the lack of fences, anyone could come in and take Marcus. Thankfully, Rio’s already written the place off in his head.

The lack of security and the fact that he could approach the building and see everything inside puts him on edge. He wants out.

They approach a room with massive windows—the fuck is with the windows in this place? Another woman is sat at a desk, her brown hair over her shoulder.

She looks up at them and instantly locks in on Rio’s tattoo, eyes wide. She doesn’t hide how she looks at Rhea and Marcus as well and shit—now he’s curious how terrible this whole experience is gonna finish off.

“Hi,” the woman says. “Please take a seat.” She points with her pen at the two chairs in front of her and doesn’t even introduce herself when they sit down.

She flips her hair over her shoulders and starts informing them of the school straight away. It’s price range, the pta events, the people at those events.

“Oh, we’re diving in straight in?” Rhea laughs tightly, trying to diffuse whatever's happening. “We didn’t catch your name.”

The lady puts her pen down and eyes them both, “Well we have a lot of serious candidates to get through so I just wanna speed up the process.”

Rhea blinks, hard. “I—”

“Where are you three from? Are there any language barriers we should be concerned about?” She stares them both down like they’re beneath her and both of them stare back, processing her words. “It’s just a question we ask everyone. We want to make sure everyone fits in.” Her voice high and grating as she finishes off.

Rio opens his mouth to respond, ready to put her in her place but Rhea grabs his hand and squeezes tightly, nails digging in.

“You know what, I forgot we have a meeting soon. We’ll be going now.” Her voice is shrill as she tries to pull Rio out of his chair.

“Rhea,” he says thickly, trying to draw her attention to him instead of the door.

Rhea gets up in her seat, still holding Marcus on her hip and Rio turns his attention back to this racist asshole but then—“Dadda come?”

Rio glances towards the door and sees Marcus staring back at him. His eyes bright and full of worry that Rio isn’t going with them and fuck—

He gets up from his chair and rocks his jaw, staring the woman down. He spots a flicker of fear in her eyes as he opens his mouth—

“Rio,” Rhea spits at him, voice loud and clear filling the room.

She doesn’t call him that, only Chris or Christopher and it’s so out of place that he stops himself. She’s pleading with him not to cause a scene and he almost scoffs ‘cause he ain’t the one that's started it.

He looks back at the woman and smirks at her. “Be seeing you.”

He drums his hands on her desk as he walks towards Rhea and Marcus and shit—the fear on the woman’s face is enough to make him semi-happy as he walks outta there.

—

“You wanna tell me what that was?” Rio questions Rhea as they pull out of the parking lot.

He feels her shift in her seat, her focus on the passing traffic as she tries to calm herself down. “You starting a scene isn’t going to help Marcus get into a preschool.”

“Me—” Rio kisses his teeth as his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

Rhea throws her hands up, “What do you think would happen if you did that, Chris? She’d warn everyone else about us and then we wouldn’t get more meetings. She’d blacklist us!” Her voice gets more croaky as she goes on and Rio should stop himself but he just—hates this whole fucking thing.

“Yeah? Well you should have let me done that then. Marcus ain’t goin’ to any school which—”

“Marcus wouldn’t be going to any school at all if you had your own way!” Rhea shouts, her voice ringing in his ears.

Marcus babbles in the car behind them and Rhea turns around picking up his ball from the floor.

Rio rocks his jaw and tries to work out how to respond but she’s right and she knows it. He doesn’t wanna argue with her and hear her bring his job up again cause he’s real fucking tired. Instead he focuses on the road and the noises of Marcus’ ball squeaking as he passes it from hand to hand.

Rio soon pulls up outside her house and they linger a little bit longer in the silence, the only noise coming from Marcus.

“The next school will be better.” Rhea says, nodding her head as if she’s convincing herself of it.

Rio pushes his head into the car seat and turns it slowly towards her, “Will it?”

Rhea stares at him and then looks back at Marcus, her voice strained as she says, “Yeah, it will be.”

—

Rio and Rhea spend the next few days visiting all types of schools, Rhea dragging him into classrooms only for Rio to drag her right back out. One school allows them to instantly spot a group of children alongside adults as they pull into the parking lot. Rio turns the car straight back around.

Another one doesn’t even try to hide their judgment when they find out they’re aren’t together. One school seems to be going alright, enough for Rhea to pull out her phone and start asking her questions, but then they say they don’t allow their children to nap as a form of punishment and they’re outta there.

Rio’s ready to throw in the towel, shit—has been ready to ever since Rhea brought up the idea. He hates picturing Marcus even attending those shit ass schools, one of them throwing screens in his face and exposing him to YouTube before he can even form a sentence on his own. All of them wanting to expose his kid with big windows allowing anyone to see in, fences wide enough that Rio’s whole crew could fit through them at the same time.

—

“Why is this so hard? Why is every school just—awful?” Rhea rants to him as they make their way back to her house.

“Maybe we should just lay off the idea for a while, wait until other schools have spots open. Check them out,” Rio speaks softly to her, gently introducing the idea.

And when Rio himself is ready for this fucking terrible idea.

Rhea ignores him as she bobs her head. “The next one, the next one is it.”

Rio hums, “Heard that before.”

Rhea ignores him again.

—

The next school does seem promising and he can feel the hope radiating from Rhea as she asks her questions. But it all falls through when they get cagey with Rio when he asks if they’re good with him picking up Marcus randomly from time to time.

Rhea leaves prickly with him, annoyed at the response the question got.

“I’m not writing it off just because of your particular lifestyle, Chris. This is a good one, the first good one we’ve had so far.” Rio can hear her voice become more straining and he leaves it at that.

Rio knows she’s already written it off, doesn’t want the school to be annoyed when Rio might have to get Marcus to safety. She just needs time to adjust to the idea ‘cause it was the first decent one.

—

It’s a week later when they arrive at another preschool. Rio’s already mentally exhausted at having to deal with another one of these fucking schools.

“So I rang ahead and apparently they have a new teacher whose class needs filling.” Rhea buzzes with energy, her voice all high as she informs him of all the information she was able to gather.

Rio hums as he gets out of the car to get Marcus. “Just don’t get your hopes up, alright?”

“Patsy!” Marcus demands as he throws his arms around Rio.

Rio suppresses a groan, they’ve been trying to get him off his pacifier but when he gets tired he asks for it.

“I think he’s due a nap after this. He woke up early this morning,” Rhea states as she rounds the car coming to their side.

Rio locks the car and they make their way over to the entrance. The place is brightly painted with blue and yellow but other than that he can’t make out much, the windows offering no view of the inside. Good.

“He’ll probably go sleep in the car on the way back,” he tells her as they get to the door.

Rhea hums as she rings the doorbell. It’s decorated all around saying PRESS ME and Rio has to look away from all the bright colours which don’t match.

Instead he focuses on Marcus who points at the wall, “Blue!”

Rio follows his tiny finger to where he’s pointing at the bright blue and Rio grins at him, “Good job, pop.”

“Blue!” Marcus shouts again, his mouth pulled into a big smile as Rio praises him.

He opens his mouth but then a voice comes out buried beneath the papers, “Names and reason for visit?”

Rhea clears her throat, “A meeting with Miss Marks’ about her preschool class for Rhea Torres and Christopher Sanchez.”

A second later the doors are buzzed open and they walk into a small reception area greeted by a woman behind a screen to their left.

The woman looks around their age with her brown hair tied up and a bright yellow dress on. Her voice is high as she greets them, “Hi there, I’m Amanda! Thank you so much for coming today! Before I send you through I just need you to sign in and I’ll give you both passes.”

Both of them nod at her and Rhea starts signing them in.

“Hi!” Marcus says, waving to Amanda.

All three of them laugh and Amanda waves back, throwing on her kid voice as she says hi back to him.

“Are you here to see Miss Marks’? You’re a very lucky boy. She’s just come from a new school she’s new like you will be as well.” Amanda informs him.

Marcus responds again by saying hi and Rio kisses his brow.

“All right, I’m all done.” Rhea says pushing the sign in sheet towards him. He signs his name and pushes it back to Amanda.

She looks it over and opens her desk drawer to pull out passes, Rhea adds hers to her shirt and Rio adds it to his pants leg pocket.

“You’ll want to go through the door and take a right, there are signs leading you to Miss Marks’ classroom.”

They thank her and go through the door when she buzzes it open. As they walk down the corridor both of them check the place out. Nothing out of the ordinary pops up and it’s looking like any other school. Walls decorated to shit with kids drawings and stickers all over.

Rio can’t make out which room is which cause there aren’t any windows for him to leer into.

Good.

“Looks good so far,” Rhea says as her head keeps turning in each direction to look at the displays on the wall. Rio hums back.

They reach a door to an open classroom, outside on the wall is a sign which states it’s Beth Marks classroom.

As they enter Rio sees there’s a couple in the corner discussing something between themselves and a kid behind them playing with a fire station.

What draws his attention the most though is that up against the wall to his right is a table full of cupcakes and lollipops.

Which, Jesus—are they trying to drive parents away? The cupcakes do look impressive, each one with a different theme, but probably store bought and Rio can already taste the cardboard feeling in his mouth from them.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I promise all are healthy and gluten-free and nut-free,” a voice sweeter than anything on the table says.

Rio turns his head to see who spoke and he’s greeted with a stacked blonde woman who's smiling at them both. Her tooth slightly sticks out at the side.

“Also hi, I’m Miss Marks.” She tells them both, offering a small wave.

“Hi!” Marcus shouts down Rio's ear as he waves back at her, shifting in his arms.

“And who might you be?” Beth asks him.

“This is Marcus,” Rhea says as she pushes his hair back. “And I’m Rhea and this is Christopher.”

“Hi,” she repeats again looking at them both and shit—she’s got some good control. She doesn’t glance at his tattoo or his outfit and make that judgy face that the others did.

She might not look at him but he looks at her. Her floral blouse already covered in paint and her hair frazzled even though it’s only 12 o’clock.

“Before you two look around the room by yourselves I thought I’d tell you about this place and what my classroom looks like on a normal day. I’ll also ask you some questions and answer the ones you have for me, if you have some.”

“We got some questions,” Rio tells her. Something’s gotta be up with this place and he just wants to get it over and done with. Get Marcus back home and Rhea off this idea for a while.

“That’s good. Why don’t we sit down over here?” Beth suggests as she points at an empty table behind her and makes her way to walk around to the other side of it.

Marcus wiggles in his hold and Rio looks at him to see his eyes on the little girl playing with the fire station.

“Is it okay if he goes and plays?” Rhea asks Beth, voice like she’s treading on water, scared of the response. Scared it won’t be as good of a place anymore.

“Of course! Grace is playing over there so Marcus can join her. It’ll be good for me to see how he does interacting with other children,” Beth responds lightly.

Rio gently puts Marcus down and tries to straighten his shirt so it’s neat before Marcus quickly speeds off.

After making sure Marcus makes it to the other kid he sits down next to Rhea.

Beth tucks her hair behind her ear and focuses on the piece of paper on her clipboard. “So before we start, I want to give both of you these.” She slides them both separate sheets of paper across the table. He instantly notices how her email address says emarks@learnandplay.co instead of B.

“It’s all my contact information and what activities I do. I like to mix it up so the children don’t get bored so I’ve put my weekly schedule. This also allows you to know how you want to dress them up for the day so nothing gets ruined. I’m able to keep control on a lot of things but I swear sometimes kids just stand still and get their clothes dirty. ”

Rio looks down at the sheet and just—she’s fucking organized. Each activity comes with a full description and how long it lasts.

Rhea laughs, “You’re telling me. I bought Marcus some new jeans and he came back a few minutes later with a hole in them. He was inside the whole time!”

Beth laughs as well, “My nephew was the exact same.”

“So I know it can be overwhelming just reading it straight from the paper so I’ll walk you both through it. But if you want to ask me your questions first we can do that.” Beth looks between them, waiting for a response.

Rhea looks at him wondering what he wants first and Rio raises an eyebrow at her, “Questions first?”

She nods and takes out her phone with the questions on it.

“Oh god—I got these from a website, but I think they’re pretty solid.” Rhea chuckles nervously as she enters her password and Beth laughs along with her.

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard everything. I just want to make sure you two are happy with leaving Marcus with me,” Beth reassures her and Rio nods at her words.

Before Rhea speaks though, Rio gets his question in. “Before we start though, it says on the sheet E Marks instead of B? Is it a mistake or—?”

Rio slightly tilts his head as he watches her answer, waiting for a slip up.

“Oh, it’s not a mistake. My full name is Elizabeth but it’s too hard for the kids to say so I go by Beth.” Beth tilts her head to the side as well. “Another other ‘mistakes’ you happened to notice before we start?”

Shit, she’s challenging him and he wants to play this game with her but he falls up short. He slowly shakes his head, “Nar, we’re good.”

Rio watches as she nods back at him and just—the name Beth doesn’t suit her, it’s too _soft_ and she might look soft with all her curves but with the way she’s staring at him all hard just proves she ain’t a Beth.

“Just ignore him. He’s been picking issues with every place we’ve looked at.” Rhea tells her, half-whispering over the table at Elizabeth.

Rio sucks in his lip to stop himself from saying that ain’t true because every place they’ve seen have had clear issues which ain’t just been because he hates this idea. Besides, Rhea don’t even give him a chance to speak again before she’s bombarding Elizabeth with her questions.

Elizabeth answers them fully, each answer has him liking her and the place more despite his opinion on this whole idea.

She’s clearly been around kids for a while and has the patience to deal with them as they slowly start to learn new skills. Rio doesn’t speak once, just nods as she answers Rhea’s questions. Rhea however, can’t stop speaking to her, both of them vibing as they get excited over preschool activities.

“Do you have anything to ask me, Christopher?” Elizabeth turns to him after Rhea finishes asking her questions. He can see Rhea turn towards him as well.

“Yeah, sometimes I like to take Marcus places, pick him up randomly, that gonna be an issue for you?” Rio asks her. He knows the answers gonna be no, something’s gotta be up with this place and he’s curious about how she’ll go about it. Will she try and get answers out of him about why and where? He just wants to read her face as she answers it.

She shakes her head, “No issue with me, he’s your son. I do require you to call beforehand though.” She meets his gaze. “That way, if he’s sleeping I’m able to wake him up and try and get him in a good mood before you pick him up.”

Fuck. She’s good.

He nods as he sucks in his bottom lip, he debates asking the next question but fuck it—he’s curious if he’s right about her being round kids for long. “You got kids yourself?”

Rhea hits him under the table but he ignores her as he watches Elizabeth.

She blushes, “No, I don't.”

“I’m sorry about him, he’s always asking personal questions,” Rhea tells her as she shuffles in her seat.

Rio raises an eyebrow and grins at her, “Oh I am, am I?”

“It’s okay. You two are trusting to leave Marcus with me. If you have any other questions you want to ask me, Christopher, by all means, do.” She says looking straight at him and shit— that feels like another challenge.

He opens his mouth to say something, doesn’t know what, but Rhea beats him to it. “Did you make those cupcakes?”

Elizabeth looks around to the table full of food and smiles at Rhea, that blush making yet another appearance. Has it even left yet? He’s intrigued with how she can be so confident but blush like there’s no tomorrow.

“I did, yes. The lollies are made of fruits and the children can have them. There’s a lot of them here today because today’s my open day.”

At that mention Rio looks over to the couple in the corner, discussing the sheet which Rio can now see is the one Elizabeth gave them as well.

“I do usually bring lollies in on Monday if I have some left over,” She informs them.

Rio’s about to ask left over from what but Rhea speaks before him, “Wow, you’re amazing.”

Elizabeth’s bright blue eyes widen and she flushes, “Oh! I— thank you. It’s nothing, really. It’s just a great way to trick the children into widening their pallet.”

“It’s not nothing, that mermaid on the cupcake is amazing. God, they all are. And they’re healthy? I’m jealous.” Rhea shakes her head, voice all high as she praises Elizabeth.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth clears her throat, “I have some questions for you two, if that’s okay. They’re just so I can get to know Marcus more.”

“Ask away.” Rhea grins at her. Rio rolls his eyes—she’ll happily reveal anything to Elizabeth at this point.

“What are Marcus’ interests?”

“What doesn’t he like is the real question.” Rhea chuckles. “He really likes Blippi, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol. The usual kids stuff.”

“He likes tigers, anything that roars to be honest. Loves animal noises,” Rio adds on.

Elizabeth writes it all down as she nods at them.

“Thank you! I was also wondering how long do his typical naps during the day last? It’s so I’m able to shuffle activities around and plan the days more suited to him if I need too.”

“He sleeps well, wakes up roughly at 8 o’clock in the morning and depending on how the day goes he has a nap around 1 o’clock. If he doesn't have a nap, though, he goes to bed early,” Rhea informs her.

“He’s woken up the past few nights though, hasn’t he?” Rhea directs her question to him but carries on talking to Elizabeth. “Mostly crying but it’s nothing big, it’s usually just before we swap.”

Rio stops himself from shaking his head at Rhea for over-sharing ‘cause really, what is Elizabeth gonna do with that information? It ain’t like Elizabeth is gonna have him all night.

“Oh, you two aren’t together?” Elizabeth asks them, her mouth falling open. (Okay, so maybe Rhea had a valid point bringing it up. Rio’s ready for that red flag.)

“Nah,” he tells her, watching her face as he says it.

Rhea shifts in her seat, nervous. “We both have him for four days, sometimes longer if over the weekend but we have a good schedule so Marcus sees us both regularly.”

“Ah great, thanks! The more I know about Marcus and his routines the more it helps me.” Elizabeth says, not really talking to them as she writes notes down, trying to soak everything in to learn every little detail about Marcus.

It goes on like this for a while, Elizabeth asking them questions about Marcus and Rio and Rhea taking it in turns to answer her. Does he have a favourite toy? How do you calm him down when he’s upset? How do they think the transition for Marcus will go when he starts? Is he a picky eater? Every answer has Elizabeth writing more notes down.

She soon clears her throat and smiles at them, “Well I think that’s it, if you have any other questions for me don’t ever hesitate to ask me. You can take a tour of the room and outside now and I’ll just be over with Marcus letting him get to know me more.”

Elizabeth stands up and reaches out her hand to shake theirs, Rhea shakes it and thanks her. Rio thanks her as well and then takes her hand in his. The softness of her hand surprises him with how it feels against his rough ones, the size of her small hand in his large one.

She blushes again at something, fuck knows what.

Elizabeth swallows and smooths down her blouse as she turns to walk toward Marcus. “Oh! Don’t forget to take some cupcakes for yourself and a lollie for Marcus!”

She smiles again and walks away.

“Oh my god, I’m in love with her,” Rhea whispers to him. Rio lets out a loose laugh and pulls his eyes away from Elizabeth, instead looking at the cupcakes she’s made.

He can’t believe he thought they were store bought when he saw them, knows no store would be able to get all the fine details Elizabeth has made. His hand twitches to inspect all of them.

“Which one are you thinking?” Rhea asks him.

“Grab me a cowboy one,” he grunts back.

Rhea snorts at him, “Too scared to go up yourself? Or if she might ask you why you want a cowboy one and then you have to explain that you and Marcus play dress up?”

“Me wearing a hat ain’t dress up.”

Rhea opens her mouth to answer but Rio quickly says, “That lady’s going after your mermaid.”

Rhea’s head snaps over to the table where the couple from the corner have gravitated towards the cupcakes and she quickly makes her way over to secure hers. Rio watches her inspect each one and shit—that’s why he couldn’t go over there himself.

Rio looks away from the cupcakes and focuses on Marcus instead but that’s the wrong move—because she’s there with him—helping him colour something in. Marcus already looking up and smiling at her like he does with _him_ , like he's known her his whole life.

Fuck—he thinks for a second time, she really is good.

—

Rio makes sure Marcus is secure in his car seat before getting into the car himself. As soon as he sits down, Rhea moans. He looks over at her to see her eat the cupcake she picked out.

He laughs, “Damn ma, you didn’t waste much time, did you?”

“This is the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted, seriously. Eat yours,” Rhea says speedily before biting into it again.

Rio grabs his from her thigh and pulls back the paper taking a bite. Both of them moan at the same time as they eat their cupcake.

“Shit.” Rio can’t deny it’s the best cupcake he’s ever tasted.

Rhea hums in agreement. “I’ll cancel the other meetings, tell them we want her. God, I wish she was my teacher.”

“You want that, pop? Miss Elizabeth as your teacher?”

Marcus smiles at him as he eats the lollipop he picked out. “Pop!”

“Elizabeth?” Rhea asks him, her eyebrow raising in question. “Didn’t she say to call her Beth?”

Rio shrugs. “Must have forgot.”

Rhea hums like she doesn’t believe him and is about to say something before Rio speaks up, “Back to work, right?”

She nods. “Marcus going to your moms?”

“Yeah, just for a couple hours, though.”

“Okay.”

Then they all just sit in his car eating their cupcakes until they’re gone.


End file.
